In the next week, the EPA is expected to issue a decision on the pesticide Clothianidin -- which scientists believe is a major factor in the alarming decline in U.S honey bee populations, known as Colony Collapse Disorder.

Honey bees and other insect pollinators are dying off at unprecedented rates and pesticides are a clear causal factor. This week and next, EPA is deciding just how "real" they think the pesticide threat to our pollinators is.

Research from North Carolina State University shows that honey bees "self-medicate" when their colony is infected with a harmful fungus, bringing in increased amounts of antifungal plant resins to ward off the pathogen.

This Asian menace is established in France and set to cross the Channel. British beekeepers have been placed on red alert by a government warning that the UK is about to be invaded by the Asian hornet - a species whose favourite food is the honey bee

In Germany's capital -- and in cities as diverse as Hong Kong and Chicago -- raising bees on rooftops and in small gardens has become increasingly popular, as urban beekeepers find they can reconnect with nature and maybe even make a profit.